Freed Wings

Chapter Three

William hissed, which roused me from the fitful doze I was in.  The men had just brought in another egg, which was placed right next to my cage.  It was sandwiched in-between my cage and Drake’s cage. Drake was a blue dragonet, and he had become a good friend of mine since I had opened my mind to the main mind link a month ago.

I glanced in curiosity at the new egg, but I growled angrily at the man.  What right did they have to take us from out homes, and turn us into these creatures!  The man looked at me, and said,

“You shut your mouth you foul creature!  I am your superior!”

I growled again, and narrowed my eyes.  If he had known I could understand him, he would have thought twice about berating me.  He glared at me before exiting the room.

I turned my attention back to the egg that was next to my cage once more.  From our observations, they brought the eggs into the big room a couple of days before they were about to hatch.  They had never placed one near our vicinity though, and I was excited to have another friend to actually see and talk to at the same time.

I remembered when I first hatched, and shuddered.  I had felt so alone, it was unbearable. I remembered that I had sunk into the deep pit of depression I hated.  I had had a huge problem with depression when I was a human, and I was scared that this body would retain it too, but it had faded over a couple of days.

I curled up and tried to resume my doze, until an interesting topic came over the mind link.  A purple dragonet who had once been a spy for America revealed his story.

I was investigating this facility because one of their scientists had left an old file laying around their hotel room in Miami.  It was very interesting, and had sketches of the dragonets anatomy. I was curious, and took it to my HQ in New York. I showed it to my advisor, and he became concerned.

What happened next? asked a gold dragonet eagerly, her curiosity was clearly piqued.

My advisor told me to investigate them.  He was worried about what this laboratory was doing.  There were human sketches, and notes along with it that explained some of the formulas.  My investigative team was trying to find some way to develop an antidote, but as I snuck in here to steal some of the mixtures that changed our chemical and genetic workings, I was caught by that red dragonet over there.

The red dragonet hung her head in shame.

I’m sorry...I thought you were one of them.  I hissed on instinct... she said over the mind link.

Yes, I am sure you are, he said coldly before continuing, I had managed to get out before the scientists and their security guards caught me, but they had caught glimpses of my face before I escaped.  I hadn’t had the time to grab any of the vials before I escaped, otherwise my investigative team would be trying to find an antidote right now.  We had enough proof to reveal it to the world, but only I had the camera and audio recordings.

They caught me two weeks later in an airport in New York City, as I was on my way to drop off my findings to HQ.  They destroyed any evidence that I had...and my family and friends have no idea where I am. I was brought back here, and turned into this. he said bitterly.

Wow… I said to him, I didn’t know that you were a spy.  I’m sorry about the way you were caught.  Honestly, if it was me, I would have hissed too.

He looked at me passively before sighing and saying, I know...I should forgive her, but it’s hard.  I guess it's hard to forgive someone when you're taken away from your friends and family.

I am truly sorry.  Again...I didn’t mean to hiss at you, said the scarlet dragonet.

I must learn to forgive and forget. he said.

We all nodded in agreement.  Nobody would get through this if they weren’t part of the team.  I privately mindlinked William.

I didn’t know that this facility had almost been discovered.  I wish there had been solid evidence against this facility. But, if it had been discovered, we might end up as zoo animals, so I guess there is a plus to not being discovered.  But, this egg, the dragonet inside of this egg wouldn’t have been captured. I said, glancing over at it with a sorrowful face.

I agree. he said.

Hisses filled the room as the scientists walked in.  They were wheeling their carts, and they had the food and water bowls on them.  Though I hated the scientists, I always looked forward to food time. I gave the man a growl as he opened the top of the cage and set the food and water bowls inside.  I was stiff until he moved several yards out of my vicinity.

I dropped my statue like act, and sniffed at the bowl.  Today, there was a large amount of kiwi. Kiwi was one of my favorite fruits, as well as mango, and peach, so it was no surprise I ate only the fruits I liked for the first couple of days, and then suddenly, as if they had been keeping tabs on what I ate, those fruits started to appear in my bowl.

William was eating as well, and he privately mind linked me.

Mmm, this is so good!  I love pineapple!

Ehhh, pineapple is okay, I said, But the real keeper is kiwi.

Kiwi?  I hate kiwi with a passion!

Why? I asked incredulously.

Because, it’s sour, and sour does not agree with my stomach. he said.

But pineapple is also sour and acidic. I pointed out to him.

True, but kiwi also has a weird consistency.  It’s like bananas, but with seeds.

Bananas have seeds, you dumb fuck! I snorted in laughter.

William looked hurt, and his wings drooped a little bit.  I immediately realized my mistake.

I’m sorry, William.  I didn’t mean to, it’s an old habit of mine, cussing is.  I’ve been trying to break it, you know.

He just looked at me.  His eyes softened, and he sent a wordless feeling of forgiveness through our private mind link.

I nodded, and sent the warm feeling of kindness and love to him and curled up under the heat lamp to get some more rest.  I spread my wings out as far as this tiny cage would permit so they could absorb the heat. I kneaded my claws into the sand, started humming in contentment.  I was as content as I could be in this situation. I shared a smile with Drake and William before rolling onto my back, and stretching my claws out. I decided to join the main mind link once more, diving into the lazy conversations of the mulled minds of the dragonets.